Tool for charging plates into furnaces.



N. Gemma. y PatentedY oct. 23', '1900.- P. armreasun. TOUL FOR GHARGING PLATES INTO FUR'NA'CES.v

(Application lgd Jung 2.8, 1900.)

(No Model.)

IQUNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

PETER O. PATTERSON, OF MOKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE 'NATIONAL TUBE COMPANY, OFNEW YORK, N. Y.

TOOL FOR CHARGING PLATES INTO FURNACES.

SPECIFICATION formingipart of Letters Patent No. 660,198, dated october 23, 1900.

Applicationfiled June 28, 19Q0. Serial No. 21,888. (No model.)

To' @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER O.- PATTERSON, a resident of McKeesport, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tools for Charging' Plates into Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to tools for handling Io plates in furnaces, and more particularly to tools for forcing heated plates from furnaces into rolls, such as in forcing plates into scarfing-rolls to be scarfed previous to being bent into skelp for the manufacture of tubing. Its object is to provide a simple and convenient tool by which the heavy labor of forcing the plates from the furnace is overcome, and the movement of the incoming plate next to be heated into the furnace is utilized inforc- 2o ing the heated plate forward into the rolls. l The invention consists, generally stated, in a tool having at its forward end a tongue to pass under the heated plate to be forced from the furnace, a shoulder to bear against the z5 rear end of that plate, and a shoulder back of the same to engage with any suitable moving body, such as the entering plate'next to be heated, which forces both the tool and the heated plate through the furnace and the plate into the rolls or other engaging means.

It also consists in certain other improvements, to be hereinafter described and claimed.

To enable others skilled in the art to make Y 3 5 and use my invention,l will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figures l and 2 are perspective views of different forms of the tool embodying the invention. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic sectional View of a furnace, rolls, and pushing mechanism, illustrating the use of the invention; and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic horizontal section on the line 4 4, Fig. 3.

It has been customary heretofore in heating Wide heavy plates for forming tubing to feed them one by one through the furnace, the furnace-hearth in somecases being wide enough to receive more than one plate, in which case the charging mechanism and the rolls to receive and roll the scarfs or bevels on the edges of the plates are either made lat# erally movable or are duplicated for receiv= ing the plates from the different parts of the furnace. The plants comprise a suitable pushing or charging mechanism for forcing the platev into the furnace, which usually hasl a solid brick bottom, and rolls at the opposite end of the furnace into which the heated plates are pushed and which after receiving 6o a plate draw it from the furnace, the draft of the rolls carrying the plate at a somewhat greater speed than the speed at which it is fed into the furnace. For the purpose of push- Aing the heated plates from the furnace it has heretofore been necessary to employlong charging-forks, operated either by hand or Connected to the pushing mechanism. The power-operated mechanism has been found cumbersome, while the hand-operated push- `7o ing forks of course required considerablen labor.

According to the present invention by the employment of a simple tool the machines are relieved of the long pushing-forks, while all heavy hand-labor is done away with. The forks employed, as shown in Figs. l and 2, are simply long bars, the body portions l of which are usually made from fourteen to sixteen feet in length to provide for the travel of the 8o bar into the furnace a sufficient distance to feed the heated plate into the rolls without permitting the rear ends of the bar having the handles 2 to enter the furnace. At the opposite side or front end of the bar is a head 3, the lower portion of which extends downwardly, being provided with a tongue which is adapted to pass under the heated plate until the shoulder 5 on the front side of the head 3 bears against the rear edge of the heated 9o plate, while through the head 3 the bar is held up above the bottom of the furnace, the rear shoulder or face 6 being in the course of the entering plate next to be heated andas that plate is being pushed into the furnace transmitting the motion from the plate to the heated plate to force it into the rolls. The

shoulders 5 and 6 may either be made practically square or, as preferred by me and as illustrated in Fig. 2, may be made recedroo ing, asillustrated in Fig. l-that is to say, the upper edge 7 of the front shoulder 5 proy 2 6eo,198

jects forward of the lower portion or bearingface 8 thereof, while the lower edge 9 of the rear shoulder 6 projects backwardly from the portion 10 close to the body 1 of the tool. Such construction overcomes all liability of either the heated plate riding upwardly and passing over the top of the tool or of the cold entering plate slipping under the tool. The side faces 11 of the head 3 are made straight, as shown, and connected by inclines 12 with the body 1, so that when the tool is turned a quarter around the entering plate being fed to the furnace Will naturally slip under it and permit the withdrawal of the tool.

In the mechanism illustrated in the drawings, with which the tool is to be used, the feeding-table 13 stands in front of the furnace, the plate to be charged resting upon this table, While a pushing jaw or arm 14, operated by suitable power mechanism, engages with the rear end of the plate and forces it into the furnace 15, the plates resting upon the hearth 16 of the furnace. In front of this furnace are the scarfing-rolls 17, which are driven at suitable speed, it being preferred that the speed shall be greater than the speed of the pushing-arm 14, so that when the plate engages with the rolls it will be drawn from the tongue of the charging-tool.

In the operation of the furnace with the use of the tool the first plate to be heated is placed upon the table 13, and by means of the power-operated pushing-jaw 14 the plate is pushed upon the hearth and rests there until it is raised to proper heat for rolling and bending into skelp. The operator then slips the tongue 4 of the tool under the rear end of the heated plate, bringing the shoulder or pushing-face 5 into contact with the rear edge thereof, and by means of the handle 2 he holds the plate in this position while the next plate resting on the charging-table 13 is engaged by the poweroperated jaw 14 and pushed into the furnace, and the front edge of this plate so being pushed into the furnace contacts with the rear face of the shoulder 6 of the tool and through the same forces the tool and the heated plate forward in the furnace until the heated plate engages with the rolls or is engaged by any other carrying means, when the operator by simply giving the tool a quarter-turn brings one of the inclines 12 into line with the front edge of the' entering'plate, when that plate passes under the t-ool and leaves the tool free to be with; drawn.

In so charging the plates the only labor necessary is to pass the tool into the furnace and under the heated plate and to hold the tool in position until that plate is fed to the rolls and then withdraw the tool, the heavy labor being all performed by the entering plate. might provide in the same way for contact with any moving body and impart its force to the plate to be forced from the furnace.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A tool for forcing plates from furnaces, having at its front end a tongue to pass under the plate, a shoulder to bear against its rear edge and another shoulder back of the same to engage with a pushing device.

2. In a tool for forcing plates from furnaces, having at its front end a tongue to pass under the plate, a receding shoulder to bear against its rear edge and another shoul der back of the same to engage with the pushing device.

3. A tool for forcing plates from furnaces, having at its forward end a tongue to pass under the plate, a shoulder to bear against its rear edge, and a receding shoulder back of the same to engage with a pushing device.

4. A tool for forcing plates from furnaces, having at its front end a head provided with a tongue to pass under the plate, a shoulder to bear against its real; edge and another shoulder back of the same to engage with the pushing device, the body of the tool being connected with side portions of said head by incliues.

In testimony whereof I, the said PETER C. PATTERSON, have hereunto set my hand.

PETER C. PATTERSON.

l/Vitnesses:

JNO. AUsTEN McCULLooH, W. JAMES STEWART.

It is evident, of course, that the tool 

